Correspondent of the Day
Abortion Funding Should Be By Choice
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I was overwhelmed with sadness after reading Lindsey Oliver's Op/Ed column, "Every Woman Should Have Reproductive Choices." One of her first statements: "The sad part isn't that I had an abortion but that there were so many barriers." No, the sad part is that she had an abortion at age 16. Where were her parents -- or the father's parents? What about other caregivers in her life? Instead, she laments at how difficult it was for her at such a young age to obtain access and funding for an abortion. Perhaps that is because such things shouldn't be easy, especially for someone at that age who is not legally entrusted to consume tobacco or alcohol or cast a vote for an elected leader.
She further discusses how impoverished women do not have "resources to determine the size and shape of their own families." I am a woman and I absolutely have that choice. It is intertwined with personal responsibility. I have no children and that is by choice, not some kind of coincidence or luck.
As a taxpayer, I do not want my taxes paying for abortions -- here or abroad. If organizations such as Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project would like to raise funds to do so, that is the beauty of this country. I suppose Oliver's plea for public funding indicates that the private model is not working for her cause. Anyone who believes that their hard-earned money should go to this cause should certainly support it. Now that is pro-choice.
Kimberly Harris.
Midlothian.
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Reader Reactions
Re: Ms Harris,
She points out one issue that is the major problem in our society today: personal responsibility.
Getting pregnant is a choice. Whether rich or poor, well educated or not, it is still a personal choice.
It’s time that people started becoming responsible for their choices.
Abortion was never meant to be a first line cure for pregnancy. There are many other options that would prevent the pregnancy, some even given freely to very young children, even through the schools.
Blaming social status or education is not the answer. Gee…I’m stupid that’s why I got pregnant. Or..gee..I’m poor that’s why I got pregnant.
You chose to get pregnant, unless it was rape or incest.
Where are the parents of these young people? Having a child means that you, not the government, not your neighbor, not the taxpayer, are responsible for them. And that includes their behavior.
When you get pregnant you accept that responsibility and everything that goes with it.
It’s time to stop looking to society to pay the bill and become personally responsible.
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